February-March 2025: Concluding our antipodean adventures

Author: Mrs A

After completing our fabulous walk along the Milford Track, our time in New Zealand continued with a fun-filled week in and around Wānaka – a small (and rapidly growing) town beside a turquoise lake, surrounded by mountains and ski areas. Joined by our friends Jenny, David, Karen and Chris, we wined and dined like royalty, and enjoyed spectacular walks and excursions along the way.

The name Wānaka comes from the Māori word wānanga, meaning a place of learning, lore or knowledge. The town sits on the southern shore of Lake Wānaka, which is glacially formed and extraordinarily deep in places (over 300 metres).

Mr A and I first visited Wānaka back in 2000 during a trip around the South Island. The town is substantially larger now, with a population approaching 20,000 — up fourfold from around 4,500 when we last stayed. Tourism is its main draw, with hiking in spring, summer and autumn, and skiing throughout the winter months.

Just outside Wānaka is Roy’s Peak, a 16km hike offering incredible views over Lake Wānaka, Mount Aspiring/Tititea and the surrounding peaks. We decided to do only part of the walk, Mr A referring to it as an ‘Insta-hike’ due to the number of people tackling the steep switchback path purely for a selfie at the top. Halfway was plenty for us. We sat in a beautiful meadow, enjoyed some fruit, and soaked in views not hugely different from those a few hours further on.

Wānaka also sits within the world-famous Central Otago wine region, and it would have been rude not to indulge in some tasting. Rippon was our vineyard of choice – what a spectacular setting. We also sampled several vineyards in Gibbston, followed by a delicious lunch.

On another day we took a boat trip to Mou Waho, an uninhabited (by people, at least!) island in the middle of Lake Wānaka. At the top of the island is a remarkable recursive lake — a lake on an island, in a lake, on an island — creating a wonderful optical illusion. Ground-dwelling birds, including buff weka, live safely here; elsewhere on the South Island they are endangered due to introduced predators such as stoats, weasels, rats and cats.

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Our time in the South Island flew by, and before long it was time to return to the North Island for a few final days with my dad and his wife Sue.

Leaving Ōmokoroa was a wrench. Dad and Sue live in a true bird paradise — their protected corner of New Zealand hosts many native and migratory species, including godwits, spoonbills, white-faced herons and more.

We stopped briefly in Auckland so I could join laryngologist Dr David Vokes for a Q&A lunch with patients living with idiopathic subglottic stenosis (iSGS). All the women present are members of the support community I founded and run, and I was deeply honoured to be gifted a beautiful pair of greenstone (New Zealand jade) earrings as a thank you. There were tears – especially as the presentation was made in both Māori and English.

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Our time back in Sydney was equally a whirlwind. Friends Michelle and Dan, along with their daughter Darcy, hosted us while we caught up with more friends, enjoyed a work lunch with colleagues, and celebrated my birthday.

It felt like no time at all before we were saying our final farewells and heading back to Sydney Airport to fly to Tokyo for a few days before returning home to the UK.

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Tokyo was very much a flying visit, and a full-scale assault on the senses. Seemingly endless underground shopping malls brimmed with people, selling cakes, sweets and toys of every imaginable kind, all feeding into train stations that delivered you to other suburbs offering much the same.

Mr A and I found ourselves craving the outdoors, though even that was highly curated and distinctly man-made. We toured the Imperial Palace grounds, hoping for something truly special, but most gardens were hidden behind high walls and the palace buildings themselves were firmly 1970s in style – not quite the Japanese architectural beauty we’d imagined.

Japan is, of course, famous for its cherry blossoms, but March proved just a little too early for the grand displays.

One visit took us to the traditional suburb of Taitō and its Ueno Park. A single cherry tree had dozens of people queued with selfie sticks, clamouring for the perfect image. Naturally, we joined in – laughing at the irony, given that we have several stunning cherry trees in our own garden at home, patiently awaiting our return and never once photographed in such fashion.

On that damp spring day the park was already incredibly busy, with one-way systems being installed in preparation for the blossom season ahead. Madness – and definitely one to avoid if crowds aren’t your thing.

Taitō is also known for its traditional cuisine. Not all restaurants offered English language translations, but one very local spot featured horse on the menu… we politely steered clear.

We explored various suburbs featured on “must-see Tokyo” blogs, the electronic billboards, traffic and endless crowds combining into a sensory overload.

After three nights and two very full days, we were more than ready to return to our quiet country village in Somerset.

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What a privilege it has been to take such an incredible trip and to spend so much time with beloved friends and family. All up, we were away for two months — which sounds like a long time, but it was packed solid with catch-ups, events, and more flights than we’ve ever taken in such a short space of time. Including all our travel within Australia and New Zealand, we took a total of 13 flights, all of which ran smoothly and on time — except for one where my luggage inexplicably decided to take a later journey than I did.

The trip was a beautiful reminder of the friends we have left behind in Australia — friendships built over twenty-five years of growing up together, shared history and endless stories. It also reaffirmed their strength: time and distance don’t weaken them at all. The laughter picked up as if no time had passed.

At the same time, we’re now building those stories, memories and friendships here in the UK. It takes time, but we’ve found a wonderful group of friends in Somerset, and that has helped us return to England feeling optimistic and excited about the year ahead.